Free workshop to help Hoosiers avoid scams

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Free workshop to help Hoosiers avoid scams

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 4th, 2015) — As more scam artists attempt to steal money through the internet, experts are hosting a free workshop to help Hoosiers fight-off thieves.

AARP Indiana partnered with the Marion County Prosecutor’s office for the event. Deputy prosecutor Cindy Oetjen says — once people fork over their cash — it’s nearly impossible to get it back most of the time. Many of the scam artists are from a foreign county, making it difficult to find them, let alone prosecute them in the U.S.

“It’s growing immensely all the time and the scammers are changing their tactics all the time, they use a real name of a company, but they then do the wrong thing in the name of that company,” Oetjen said.

Oetjen says the elderly population is targeted the most.

“Those folks are on a retired income and it would be very hard for them to make that money up in the long run,” she said.

Common scams include fake tech support, lottery winnings and fake debt collection.
Monday’s event starts at 5:30 p.m. inside the student center at the University of Indianapolis.